Hay or other agricultural products are typically compressed and baled in the field with twine or strapping in bales measuring about 16.times.18.times.48 or 16.times.21.times.48 and weighing approximately 95-135 pounds. Compressing the baled hay into smaller units (i.e., recompressing or double compressing) is often desirable prior to shipment or storage to save space and increase ease of handling. This is desirable, for example, if the hay is shipped overseas and space aboard ship is costly. In some countries, storage space is also scarce and costly.
Once the baled hay is recompressed it must be tied together in some manner to maintain its reduced size. Conventional methods of holding the recompressed bale together include using twine which is knotted on the ends or strapping. However, knotters and strappers are expensive to operate and unreliable with recompressed hay bales. Typically three to five percent of the hay is lost in recompression due to problems inherent in these processes, including the twine or straps breaking, or the knots or straps coming undone. This not only results in large amounts of wasted hay, but also in costly down time to keep the strappers or knotters up and running. Besides, the straps as well as the twine are not usually recycled due to the difficulty in doing so. These prior processes are also not reliable for a highly compressed bale since the outward force of the hay may break the twine or strapping.
Another problem arises during shipment of tied or strapped hay. The recompressed bales may lose some of the hay out the sides. Also the straps or twine may break during handling causing loss. Since typically only a few straps or strings of twine are used, if one of these is damaged or completely cut the bale will completely fall apart. The bonds which hold the strapping together and the twine may break during loading, shipment, unloading, or transport to the customer or anytime while the hay is handled. The damage tolerance of a knotted or strapped recompressed bale is often not high enough to withstand an impact from dropping the bale. Typically one to two percent of the hay is lost during shipment and handling after recompression.
Methods of holding the recompressed hay together which solve some of the problems discussed above have been examined and found unsatisfactory. For example, stretch wrap plastic may be used, however, it tends to cause the hay to bleach and sweat, making the hay moldy and unattractive to a purchaser. Using black plastic solves the bleaching problem but still causes molding and obscures viewing the quality of the hay.
Other methods have been used to contain other materials. For example, a method of baling fibrous material is disclosed in Great Britain Patent No. 1,204,467. There the material is compressed and pushed into a solid-walled strapped container. The straps hold the bale together in its compressed form and the container prevents material from falling out between the straps. This method suffers from having to manually place the bag and straps over the outlet tube. It is also a costly procedure since both a bag and several straps must be used to contain the material. The straps or "binding cords" also have the same disadvantages as conventional baling twine: They are not readily recyclable, thus wasteful and expensive; they may not be reliable for a highly compressed bale, and are difficult and thus expensive to secure in place. Besides, if any one of the cords is cut or breaks the bale may fall apart.
In consideration of the limitations and disadvantages of the devices and methods currently in use, it should be apparent that an effective solution to the problem of containing a compressed bale of material such as hay is needed. Accordingly, the present invention was developed, and provides significant advantages over previous devices or methods to contain compressed materials.